Media Commons workshop and tailgate

October 12th I attend the Penn State's Media Commons' Tailgate 2012 pre-conference workshop, "Using Mobile Media to Tell Engaging Stories". The workshop was facilitated by Stefani Sese, East Coast Region Director at the Center for Digital Storytelling CDS. It was designed to give an introduction to the CDS process and introduce attendees to the use of iOS devices in digital storytelling. The CDS workshop usually last three days, so our one day session scratched the surface. It still provided a good foundation and allowed attendees to gain "new perspectives, iPhone/iMovie skills or tips, and ideas for implementing digital storytelling."

October 13th I attended the Media Commons Tailgate 2012 themed "Rediscovering Our Roots." The tailgate "is a highly interactive event focused on exploring the possibilities for digital media in teaching and learning."

The day started out with an amazing keynote by Susan Russell,  artistic director of Cultural Conversations and assistant professor in the School of Theatre. The rest of the day was "an opportunity to creatively explore and dig into the role of new media in the classroom and the many new innovations the Media Commons is supporting this year."

I attended a number of the breakout sessions designed to highlight  faculty's use of new media in the classroom and others "designed to engage the audience in conversation." These included learning about the University's plan to implement Wordpress for its blogs and the one button studio.

There was a lunchtime activity where participants were asked to take photos on their way to and back from lunch and capture some aspect of the day. My best shot was of an instructional designer showing another faculty member the movie he created during the pre-conference.

Other images from the day's events and the videos we created during the pre-conference can be found on the Tumblr.

NMRT Annual Program: Professional Networking for New Librarians

The 2012 NMRT Annual Program took place online. Professional Networking for New Librarians covered the who, what, when, where, why, and how of networking. The session presenters included Ned Potter, Loida Garcia-Febo, JP Pocaro, Pat Hawthorne, and me. I covered "Professional Networking Tips for New Librarians: Where to Network". I learned a lot from my co-presenters. I am also happy I had the opportunity to think about this topic in a more organized way. Do check it out, and please let me or any of the presenters know if you have any questions.

Thanks again to NMRT and the committee for a useful, timely, and accessible program.

Power to the Patron: Panel Presentations

Lisa Carlucci, Director of design think do, put together this year's Library Journal Virtual Tech Summit "Power to the Patron". The event included a keynote, three panels, and a tweet-up #ljtechsmt. I was the twitter moderator for the keynote, first panel, and assisted with the tweet-up. This entry is focused on the first panel and the tweet-up.

The first panel, moderated by Cody Hanson, was Mobile Apps: What Do Users Need? 

Nate Hill, Web Librarian doing design and development work at the San Jose Public Library, talked about the Scanjose.org project. Scanjose is a walking tour of San Jose using images from the library collection. It is best experienced when using it on a mobile device or a tablet in San Jose, CA. For this project, Hill had to decide if they wanted to create a native mobile app or just have it work in a web browser. Working in  a browser meant they can could do what they already knew what to do. HTML5 and Drupal 7 were used, and jQuery mobile was also used for easy to use buttons. This project allows the library to engage people in a new way


Rebecca Ranallo, Internet & Media Services Manager for the Cuyahoga County Public Library, talked about CCPL Mobile. The library decided to go moble to support its mission: be most convenient public library. CCPL mobile is partnership with Boopsie. The app was also developed because the current library website is pretty inflexible. A great thing about the CCPL app is it allows you to check out materials via mobile device right there in the stacks. CCPL stopped security stripping materials as they found it was cheaper to replace missing items than security tag everything in their collection. Since implementing the app, they've seen a significant increase in use of digital materials. Approximately 4300 customers (predominately iPhone and Android) are using the app. Popular uses: catalog search, self checkout, digital media, library locator, my account. CCPL advertised the availability of the app via library website and social media: purchased Google ads and created QR codes.


Michael Whitchurch, chair of the Learning Commons Department in the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young, was the next panelist. Whitchurch started by asking participants where they've seen QR codes. Next he ask when should we use QR codes in libraries? What is the Value Add? Value add included things like event details (lecture announcement poster), independence (audio tour, activity that allows for participation flexibility), an actionable task (reserving a room). Where should you put QR codes? Point-of-need, location specific information. Sign positioning is key, near signs with similar information. Why use QR codes? Convenience (quicker), simplify a task, url duplication. Have a purpose beyond "hype" for your QR code, use when and where appropriate for the reason. Whitchurch also suggested visiting the Library Success wiki on QR Codes.


Dan DeSanto, Information and Instruction Services Department at the University of Vermont, was the final panelist. He discussed the Long Trail digital collection. He created an app using USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) headings. GNIS provides standardize latitude/longitude points to create graphical access point. The app is still very much in development. Building/designing using Xcode 4, and  collaborating with the Computer Science department on its development. DeSanto likes working with apps because: extensibility, ability to put multiple collections in one app. He also likes working with apps because libraries create acces to digital collection at "point of interest".

After tweeting this session, I took a break to get away from the computer and eat lunch. I popped back later to catch the end of the final session and participate in  the tweet-up.

For me, one of the true "power to the patron" things mentioned was CCPL no longer using tattle tape in their print materials.

During the tweet-up, one of the best questions I saw asked was posted by Stephanie Chase @acornsandnuts:

For the post-#ljtechsmt crowd: if you could point a non-librarian to one bk/blog/wbste/resource dscr what libraries are about, it would be...

I'd be really interested in what titles you'd suggest.

Overall this was a pretty thought-provoking event. I appreciated the opportunity to interact with others around these topics and services. As always, I learned many new things.

Also check out: LJ Virtual Tech Summit Explores How Libraries Use Tech To Connect with Patrons

Power to the Patron: Keynote by Bryan Alexander

Lisa Carlucci, Director of design think do, put together this year's Library Journal Virtual Tech Summit "Power to the Patron". The event included a keynote, three panels, and a tweet-up #ljtechsmt. I was the twitter moderator for the keynote, first panel, and assisted with the tweet-up. This entry is focused on the keynote.


The keynote was presented by Bryan Alexander, senior fellow at the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education, which provides outreach, communities of practice, research. Here are some highlights from Alexander's keynote based on my tweets.

Emerging technologies: thinking about multiple layers that overlay each other, as well as what they expose and reveal. What strata haven't been revealed?

Extrapolation: use it to assess larger fields, rising fields and declining industries.

Environmental scanning: multiple sources, overtime, pattern glimpses. OCLC does a good job of this. Environmental scans are helpful for seeing trends, but be careful to to see things that do not exist. Alexander talked about one of his favorite environmental scans from Kevin Kelly: screening, interacting, sharing, flowing, accessing, generating.

Premise of social media is that we make stuff, and that making stuff keeps going.

Construction of scenarios: creating small narratives about the future. These are not predictive, but allow you to explore ideas.

Futures market: pretend market (a game) in which players buy and sell shares in a future event. These are often applied for example to the stock market, sports (my love of fantasy football!), predicting who will win the U.S. presidency. Alexander ran futures market on how many institutions would participate in Flickr's Creative Commons project by 3/26/09. Whenever you try to predict the future, there are wild cards aka Black Swans.

The Horizon Report: used Delphi process, asked five questions. Time to adoption horizon: one year or less.

Technologies to watch for: ebooks, gaming based, gesture-based computing. We don't talk about social media, it's already taken over. Social media example: blogs being used in education (courses, scholarship), podcasts still huge, wikis for coursework. Social media tools are being used in a variety of mainstream ways. According to Alexander, "It's simply gone wild in education."

Private closed-door spaces are now accessible via social media.

Media permeable classrooms changes the way we teach.

Ebooks: Project Gutenberg goes back to the '70's. Format variation and diversity one of the problems. However, the presence is enormous. We might see new ways of reading and sharing as a result of ebook growing pains.

The ecology of devices: multiple devices competing and reinforcing each other. What do we already use? Laptops, mp3, clickers, cameras, netbooks. Devices are offering us with ways to interact with content, such as smart pens, tablets, etc.

Augmented reality (AR): instead of creating a virtual world, push the virtual into the actual world. Example: Beatles "Abbey Road" experience with smartphone. Role of the gaming world in AR. Alexander discussed games and gaming, mentioning Angry Birds, Farmville, and others. Gaming in libraries.

Gamified reality: games seeping out into everyday life, they are connecting more directly in literal practical conceptual levels. Airlines create gamification experience with levels in rewards programs think of it as a leader board. Gartner Associates felt mouse was on it's way out with touch screen, hand-held, or hands-free (video capture) operation/interaction are coming in.

1. Storytelling. 2. Critical literacy. 3. Going around the web. Storytelling in social media. Digital storytelling allows you to remix content. Storytelling example uses 5 Flickr images (examples from groups here). Only text is the title. The pictures tell the story. Alexander mentions We are the 99% tumblr as an example of digital storytelling.

Information literacy is needed more than ever. Alexander cited Ann Blair's Too much to know. The problem isn't abundance, we haven't developed good lenses. - Clay Shirky. Alexander feels librarians are heroes in this (information literacy).

Alexander read an except from Long Live the Web and encouraged attendees to read the entire piece.

From the Q & A:
Alexander noted librarians have wonderful voices to advocate for standards. He is a self-confessed "librarian fanboy".

What should librarians be aware of with regards to privacy in libraries? Users are very happy to share their private lives, sometimes we even pay for the privilege. Library world has critical role in advocating for patron's right to read and consume media on their own.

There is a huge recognition that we need more information literacy. Libraries may need to to make more opportunistic alliances.

Reframing and rethinking = what libraries can do to help with the importance and existence of digital storytelling.

People's love of diversions = different devices. This goes back to the discussion of the ecology of devices. More is better. Libraries when planning for technology should keep in mind that diversion devices could be made available.

A question was asked about archiving the digital world. Alexander noted the Library of Congress tweet archive and internet archive are good, but how do we capture someone's Farmville progress? Emulation can be another good way to archive. Actual physical archives still have a role to play in this process.

Gaming in libraries: thematic, casual games (think tetris, mindsweeper). Alexander suggested Jay is Games for additional ideas.

 You can follow Alexander on twitter: @bryanalexander

Internet Librarian 2011: Day 4

This morning's keynote was the "Internet 2020: TrendWatch Smackdown". Roy Tennant moderated the panel featuring James Werle, Liz Lawley, and Stephen Abram.

James Werle gave a brief formal presentation, where he noted bandwidth will drive libraries ability to use and consume information online. He also thinks in/ability to keep up with bandwidth needs is approaching a dangerous level. Finally, he asked everyone to visit this url: http://bit.ly/pFcfRp

Then we got to the more smackdown portion of the session:

 What is the role of lightweight tech that has same utility of broadband heavy tech?

Lawley asked about freemium use products: those you use for free then shift to using for a small fee. This is tied into people's willingness to pay for a good experience. "Context trumps content."

One of the most thought-provoking things said during this session was by Abram: "seamless frictionless experiences with technology will fundamentally shift our behaviors."

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For a change of pace, and knowing I had to leave early to catch my flight back to Pittsburgh (only to turn around and fly to Chicago), I attended two CyberTours. I did this at Computers in Libraries and found it to be a great way to learn a little bit on a variety of topics. I tweeted both presentations.

The first CyberTour was "Streaming Media for Libraries". Cyrus Ford from UNLV led the tour. We've started providing streaming media at Penn State, with Filmmakers Library Online being the most recent acquisition. With video quality getting better as bandwidth increases, streaming media will likely take hold in libraries, especially academic libraries. Ford highlighted various free streaming media sites including: Academic Earth, America Rhetoric, Bio Interactive, Merlot, Oyez, Research Channel, Teacher Tube, YoVisto, and EDU YouTube. It was noted libraries should remember to work with companies to obtain cataloging records for streaming media, creating an additional access point to these resources. I also found it helpful to learn the subject heading is "streaming media". While we're often talking about streaming media as films and documentaries, Ford highlighted a more internally produced streaming media libraries could be involved: streaming as a benefit for instruction. Course lectures can be streamed and made available via a library streaming site. As the number of courses available online or remotely spikes, this may very well be a new complement to electronic course reserves.

The second CyberTour was on Google+ presented by Miles Kehoe (@miles_kehoe), president of New Idea Engineering, Inc. His tour was titled "Not your kid's social network." Kehoe described Google+ as "an interest network and information network" drawing on elements of twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, and social interests. He asked how many of the attendees were using Google+, Twitter, or Facebook. There was definitely a stronger showing for Facebook, then Twitter, and finally Google+. There are three steps to using Google+:

1. Create your profile.
2. Decide who to follow.
3. Interact!

One point Kehoe made was "Google+ is best when you're honest." He also indicated "If nothing is happening in Google+ you're not using it right." Google+ hangouts seems to have some interesting features. These included the ability to bring up a video (ex. YouTube) and it watch together, and collaborate on a GoogleDocs. Currently only individuals can set up profiles on Google+, so you would not be able to set one up for your library or organization. I thought that Kehoe's most important point of the session was "Remember you're not the user, you're the product."

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After these CyberTours, I enjoyed a fantastic buffet lunch at Ambrosia India Bistro with Michelle Jacobs and Chuck Gibson, then headed to the airport. I had the nicest cab driver from Yellow Cab Co. He was looking for his usual classical music station that had seemingly disappeared overnight and shifted to a new music format. He finally settled on a light rock station and ended up talking about one of his and my favorite musicians, George Benson.

Before I left Monterey, I tweeted this: Thank you #il2011 for creative ideas, inspiration, and fun with old & new friends. The best time a first time attendee could experience. :)

Unfortunately my flight was delayed and I missed my connection in San Francisco. Not to worry, I've been pushed to a red eye headed to Washington, D.C. From there I'll fly back to Pittsburgh with just enough time to go to my car, switch suitcases, go back through security and catch my flight to Chicago. Wish me luck!

Internet Librarian 2011: Day 3

Lee Raine was today's keynote speaker. Video of the presentation and his slides are here.
Here are my notes from the session, mostly based on my tweets.

5 questions for librarians as they ponder learning communities:

1. Future of knowledge?
2. Reference expertise?
3. Public technology?
4. Learning spaces?
5. Community anchor institutions?

Volume, velocity, and valence/relevance.
65% Internet users are on social networking sites, 13% using Twitter. This sharing is content creation story.
84% of people use mobile phones.

Importance of PEW data for librarians is we have to serve all users and the digital divides are real (my interpretation)

Social networks are more influential and differently segmented and layered.
Librarians as nodes in people's networks. Libraries as anchor institutions.

Cited Shanna Ratner (1997) Emerging Issues in Learning Communities.

Embedded librarian model: librarian as scout for relevant material, reviewer and synthesizer, organizer and taxonomy creator, on-call for just in time information.
Librarian as teacher of social media.
Librarians will be asked to recommend what analytics work, increased role with regards to "big data".

The phrase "new normal" was mentioned as a part of this talk. For me, this is not new, it is my normal. I've been engaged in social networking and participated in my community as an embedded librarian. The learning communities idea is very much a part of the knowledge commons concept. While much of this is a no-brainer in my mind, it is a good reminder that there are still a lot of librarians and educational professionals for whom these ways of thinking are new.

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For the second day in a row, I decided to stick with Track D: Tools of Engagement facilitated by Jim Tchobanoff.

Track D: Collaborating: Students & Librarians.
Michelle Jacobs, Pepperdine University, had a high energy presentation chock full of information. Highlights from her session:

• Go where students are to find out what they need for their complete educational experience. Jacobs would attend student group meetings to learn from and about her students.
• They implemented a study room reservation system software as a result of student interest.
• A Library Ambassadors program was put in place for peer to peer general assistance and service triage (reference, IT, etc.). Also used Library Ambassador to help decide where you really need signs. They're students so they know!
• Student generated LibGuides: students gave feedback on what they felt would be most helpful.
•  Captive library audience in the bathroom = opportunity to install newsletter with useful student focused information.
• Pop up lounge concept: students proposed ways to create new student spaces with flexible non-traditional furniture.
• "Research support: more than reference."
• Use google style beta to assess how new configuration for academic excellence area.
• Collaboration with units on campus also means getting students involved to teach skills. For example, students wanted to teach a class on a particular software functionality (creating colorful tables and graphs, working with images to create slides, etc.). Allow students to be expert and share their knowledge.

Lisa Kurtz, University of Nevada-Reno presented on the @One project. They borrowed the Apple model for this project because they "design experiences". Developed @eReader Bar and a LibGuide based on their eReader experience. The project launched in April 2011.

Track D: Repositioning with Tablets, Social Media, & Outreach
Tim Donahue, Montana State University offered an interesting presentation on tablets in libraries.

• Tablets as combo of personal computer and smartphone.
  
• Donahue notes he did not find a standard definition "what is a tablet".
  
• Tablets employ new technologies, are app culture driven, and have a non-textual thrust.
  
• "You don't need language to use a tablet."
  
• Implications for libraries?
  
  • Ownership by our users will likely increase.
  • Size may also increase popularity.
  • Tablets interface better with mobile information (QR codes).
  • Do libraries need to develop tablet-specific web sites? Mobile versions aren't always the solution.
    
  • Are databases, online catalogs, and other popular library resources going to take advantage of tablet features such as rotating screen to move through results?

Allan Cho, University of British Columbia, highlighted the "Chinese Canadian Stories" project. This digital project is community driven. Members of the community provide the metadata to make the digital objects useful. A major challenge is that ancient village script is difficult to read. Elderly community members have been called upon to help translate. the resources contained in the project and giving it a digital life. Uses CONTENTdm, Drupal, and Dspace.

Arlene Keller, Multnomah County Library talked about "Using Facebook for your library." Her main points included

• You want your patrons to engage with you where they spend the most time online.
• Must monitor your Facebook wall for spam. The spam is not always negative information.
• All posts from the library should be on topic and match library mission.
• The Facebook fan place is a growing space to provide readers advisory to your community.

In the evening, I attended the "Great Web Tools Face-Off". Six speakers panelists, including the talented Lisa Carlucci, Michael Porter, Amy Buckland, and Blake Carver, were organized into two teams and had to represent their selected online productivity software. Web tools you expected to be covered were mentioned: Dropbox, Prezi, Doodle, Zotero. A tool that was new to me was Gliffy, an online diagram and flow chart software. The best quote of the night was Lisa Carlucci's proclamation "Go Prezi or go home!"

Internet Librarian 2011: Day 2

The conference kicked off this morning with the keynote speaker John Seely Brown. His presentation was streamed, so if you missed it or weren't able to attend, you can check it out here. Here are my raw notes from his presentation.

Creating entrepreneurial learners -- want to continue to learn.
Reinvent social practices
Driven by computation -- evolve around technological infrastructures
Find new ways to pick up new skills: libraries and communities are at the center of these new ways

Moving from Stocks to Flows
 - Stocks: protect/deliver authoritative assets
 - Flows: participate in the knowledge flows
Quote by Carla Hess: "moments of encounter"

Are we prepared? Are we preparing our students to be entrepreneurial learners?
Requires new dispositions; dispositions cannot be taught
 - cultivation of disposition: curiosity (technology amplifies curiosity), questing, connecting
We need new approaches to learning.
"We participate, therefore we are."
Make knowledge personal.
Content and context are more fluid.

Blogging as joint context creation: intimate, improvisational, yet collaborative
 - Andy Sullivan
 - Forthcoming David Weinberger book Too Big to Know

Collectives: shared participation, site for play and imagination
My learning more and sharing makes the group learn more with makes me learn more.

Entrepreneurial learners are master makers and tinkerers
 - digital makes this even easier
Humans as makers of content and context
Imaginations role in shaping experience, context

Regrind our conceptual lenses
Homo Ludens: fail, fail, fail, succeed
Learning as riddles

And the last two pages of my notes as I took them:

tinkering, composed of knowing making and playing, leads to embracing change

 

networks of practice and communities of interest lead to action inspiring a networked imagination

I found Brown's talk very relevant to me and my library setting, particularly as I start moving forward with the idea of a knowledge commons for the campus library. The concepts of of tinkering through knowing, making, and playing leading to creating change really captures the direction I think we should move in to become a more 21st century library.

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The room used for the keynote was also the room for Track D: Learning, Literacy, & Training. Bobbi Newman was the facilitator for those sessions. As a result, I attended some really good presentations and learned new things.
The first session was Bobbi Newman, Polly Farrington, and Emily Clasper. They focused on training librarians and staff. Newman highlighted 7 tips for training: know your stuff, make a connection, tell them why, set boundaries, admit defeat, listen, and reward. Farrington [slideshare] mentioned the importance of having safety nets for your training sessions and the importance of "canoe time" aka opportunity to do fun stuff away from learning. She also believes the most important thing is creating a culture of learning. Clasper [slideshare] noted using games for self-directed training and brought up an interesting question we should probably ask more often: are people asking for training or asking for learning?


Polly, Emily, and Bobbi at Internet Librarian 2011
The next panel was "From training to learning: strategic community conversations" presented by Nancy MacKenzie and Lisa Hardy. They described the Future Action Think Tank project at Calgary Public Library. It was interesting to think about how the communities' strategic goals can interface with the library/organization strategic plan. Future Action Think Tank is using a blog to start the conversations about the future of public libraries, and they welcome your comments.


Nancy and Lisa at Internet Librarian 2011
For lunch I enjoyed an egg and cheese crepes at the Monterey Crepes Company. The shop's hot interior was literally a warm welcome after freezing in Track D at the Marriott. I really wish there were some way for me to have easy access to crepes as well as beignets in Pittsburgh.


After lunch I attended "Transliteracy & 21st-Century Skills for Library Users". Jennifer Koerber briefly presented on the "Learning for life online" project. Next, Bobbi Newman presented a micro version of her transliteracy talk. She shared deeply personal family stories to illustrate why she is so passionate about transliteracy in libraries. I really appreciated Bobbi reminding us that passion is important to reaching, educating, and empowering all users. Jamie Hollier followed and talked about the BTOP project, transliteracy and 21st century skills for library users. She highligted that "partnerships are paramount to success" and partnering with other organizations important to your community can increase multitudes of literacy needs (health, financial, etc.).
I was pleased to meet and see Willie Miller from IUPUI present on using iPads and mobile devices in undergraduate teaching.

• Miller shared projects other faculty in other disciplines on campus are developing using iPad in instruction. 
• Going to teach with an iPad? Your library should have a mobile site with links to all the mobile resources available.
• Courses used iPads with news and media apps preloaded. Faculty designed assignments around those apps and had to consider where are audio, video, and text used in the course and assignments?
• Miller used popplit app for collaborate content mapping.
•  Miller also conducted study on use of iPad in classroom,  asking students if the device helped or limited learning class content. Size and portability of iPad meant students could collaborate better around devices. Computers and monitors can be physical barriers in collaborative learning. At the same time, app failures and time spent troubleshooting were viewed as time wasted.
• Best practices using iPad for instruction: pay attention and test the tech, convey expectations, monitor actives, curate resources, cultivate mobile information literacy, and consider device limitations.
• My favorite quote from Miller: you can't get "caught up in the iPadness of it all."

Follow Miller on twitter, @LibraryWillie. I really enjoyed his presentation and learning more about his work. Check out this short piece he co-authored in C&RL news. I look forward to presentations and publications about his projects in the future.

The Exhibit Hall Grand Opening Reception was a very nice event. It was fun to meet and greet attendees participating in other tracks. I was able to go to dinner with some new friends although the majority were twitter friends.

Internet Librarian 2011: Day 1

I'm finally attending my first Internet Librarian (IL) conference. A colleague and I submitted a proposal 5 or 6 years ago but it was not accepted. We did not give up, and ACRL accepted the proposal. We presented at the conference in Baltimore and were invited to participate in the ACRL virtual conference in 2007. I've been interested in attending IL ever since.

On my flight to Monterey, I sat next to a nurse (BSN) who trains RNs and LPNs. We had a really interesting discussion about the parallels in nursing education and library education, particularly with regards to preparing the profession and the impact of technology. She also happened to be holding a Kindle and told me how she had not originally been interested in the device but saw the utility after receiving it as a gift. She also mentioned how she was using it to do other things, mainly play Words With Friends. When I told her that libraries were working to allow people like herself to check out books to their ereaders she lit up. I suspect when she returned home to San Diego she'll be investigating her options at the public library.

I took a very early flight with a connection through Phoenix. One of my oldest librarian friends Chuck Gibson, director at Worthington Public Library, was on that flight. It was a nice surprise since I did not know he was attending the conference. We got lunch on the Fisherman's Wharf and walked around town a little while.



In the evening I attended the Gaming and Gadgets Petting Zoo. It was well attended and lively. I saw a few friends, and met some new people. My new friends and I ate a delicious meal at Maha's Lebanese Cuisine.

Planning for long week of travel

I'm getting ready for back to back trips. The first is Internet Librarian in Monterey. I'll be there Sunday to Wednesday. Thursday to Sunday I'm back in Chicago for the fall ALA Executive Board meeting. If my flights go as planned, I'll spend about 13 hours at home Wednesday night/Thursday morning. If I miss my connection on the way home (I land there at 3:30 but the flight takes off at 4:04), then things get complicated. So I'm madly packing for two trips and leaving bag number 2 in my car just in case. Hopefully that will be an uneventful leg of my trip.

I'm looking forward to learning new things and building on a my knowledge at Internet Librarian. I'm also looking forward to spending time with colleagues, not to mention meeting new ones. I've read up on Bobbi Newman's tips for IL. Actually it was her post that got me excited about the conference.

The board meeting should also be good and productive. It will be nice to see some of the ALA crew again and see board members. I've heard we have a pretty packed agenda. From the looks of all the documents I've received, it's going to be busy and informative.

I better get back to packing!

Academic Library Symposium 2011

On November 11, 2011 Library Journal and Temple University are co-sponsoring the LJ/Temple Academic Symposium: Bridging the Gaps.

I'm excited to be facilitating Segment 2 - People: Strengthening the Culture.

“Why can’t my colleagues tolerate change?” Don’t these new librarians realize how we do things here?” “How come the deadwood always rejects my great ideas?” “Technology? That’s the new librarian’s job.” Our academic libraries can become fraught with misunderstanding and stereotypes about our colleagues, and when the gaps grow wide they lead to organizational dysfunction. To build better libraries we must confront these gaps. Doing so requires that we engage in authentic conversation focused on creating a better understanding of each other. Once we learn to appreciate our differences, and how our organizations thrive from the mix of skills we bring to it, we can begin to bridge the culture gap.”

The segment panelists are Andy Burkhart, Valeda Dent, Erin Dorney, and Diane Skorina. I'm looking forward to a rich discussion for this segment, not to mention the rest of the event. Consider registering (it's free!) and joining us in Philly.

RNC IV Denver

I attended the REFORMA National Convention IV in Denver, Colorado. I arrived on the second day of the conference. It was my first time attending REFORMA. I've really enjoyed the opportunity to be a first time attendee at a few conferences over the past year. It helps me particularly in the context of ALA to understand what it means to be new and how important it is to reach out and welcome everyone who attends. While I knew even more attendees than I expected, there was still that new attendee feeling.



A session I got the most out of was "Why Libraries Matter: Empowering Community Voices" presented by Camila Alire, Molly Raphael, and Patty Wong. The program highlighted Alire's Libraries: The Hear of All Communities frontline advocacy initiative from her 2009-2010 ALA Presidential year and Raphael's Empowering Voices: Communities Speak Out for Libraries 2011-2012 ALA Presidential initiative co-chaired by Wong. There was a lot of audience participation for this session. While the focus was on Latino and Spanish speaking communities, the questions and strategies around community advocacy are applicable in any library setting and community.


Folder of materials from the session.

Friday night a reception was held at a branch of Denver Public Library. It was a really nice facility and the food was amazing. I spent the majority of that time talking with Loida Garcia-Febo. She was REFORMA president the same year I was NMRT President and we collaborated on an excellent program, The New Professional Paradigm: Redefining the New Librarian", at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC. She gets the majority of the kudos because she approached me about collaborating. I also spent time talking with Alex Villagran with whom I have the pleasure of serving on ALA BARC. I get to see him again in a few weeks for our fall meeting.

Saturday's highlights included delicious Mexican food at a lovely restaurant Alfredo took Em Claire Knowles, Patty Wong, and me. We also drove around the Denver area a bit to see the mountains.


Saturday night was the Banquet and Dance. We celebrated 40 years of REFORMA.




With Camila Alire attending, I knew there would be lots of dancing.

Professional Travel for Fall 2011

It's that time again. This fall I'm heading to the following conferences and meetings.

REFORMA - Denver, CO
ALA BARC Fall Meeting - Chicago, IL
Internet Librarian 2011 - Monterey, CA
ALA Fall Executive Board Meeting - Chicago, IL
LJ/Temple University Academic Library Summit - Philadelphia, PA
Penn State Forum on Black Affairs event - State College, PA
Penn State University Libraries Faculty Retreat - State College, PA (canceled twice)

I'm excited to attend REFORMA and Internet Librarian. I'll be a first time attendee at both.

WebJunction Conference: Serving the 21st Century Patron

Wednesday and Thursday afternoon (for those on the east coast) featured WebJunction's Serving the 21st Century Patron online conference. This free conference (thanks WJ!) "focused on the changing needs, approaches, challenges and opportunities related to customer service in your 21st-century library."

I was able to attend most of the sessions. While all the content was good, the session I found most thought-provoking and motivating was Pat Wagner's "Staying Committed to Great Customer Service When Your Library is in Chaos". Her session was focused on how library employees can provide great customer service when your library is in chaos. Pat encouraged us to take notes during her session. Here are mine.

Priorities
- plans take the drama out of work
- let people who work with you and for you know what to do; instill them with decision making confidence

Focus on details of your own behavior

Customer Service
- welcome: smile, nod, say hello and goodbye
- play fair: no exceptions for folks you like
- stay consistently positive
- manners are rituals of respect
- competent follow-through

Learned optimism

Hire for attitude, train for skill

Six steps to build momentum:
1. create momentum
2. establish vision
3. know current status
4. develop priorities
5. focus on aligning
6. track and share progress

The other highlight was Battledecks! It was highly entertaining thanks to the the audience commentary on the slides. Definitely check it out!

"Changing Reference Services to Meet Patron Expectations" was another useful discussion I took notes.
- engage committees to assess their needs
- learning new skills
- changing delivery modes for reference services
- role of coaching: consider your abilities and limitations
- information services as customer development

need present -> define need -> assess customer -> provide assistance -> follow-up -> repeat

I spent more time listening to "Morale Issues in your Library" than taking notes. I did jot down a few items that were key for me.
- improve communication to improve morale
- sometimes it is not about you
- develop your skills
- leave work stress at work
- leave home stress at home
- find joy in other parts of your life
- find success and motivation in other parts of your life

"2-1-1 and Library Partnerships" was a session featuring a service that was completely new to me: 2-1-1. It is a one stop shop for social services referrals. It is supported by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems and the United Way. 211 provides
- basic human needs
- physical and mental health
- employment support
- support for senior citizens
- children and families
- volunteers and donors
- advocacy and legal services
- emergency and disaster services
2-1-1 is not available in this part of Pennsylvania.

Other blog posts on the conference:
21st Century Library Ideas

Georgia COMO Conference 2010

I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the Georgia Council Of Media Organizations (COMO) XXII conference in Athens GA. I was a panelist for the October 14 program "Getting Involved: Professional Organizations and the Opportunity to Make a Difference, Stay Connected, and Build Relationships". The program was sponsored by the Georgia Library Association Paraprofessional Division. Kara Mullen and Ashley Dupuy were the other two panelists. Karen Walton was the panel moderator.


Karen Walton, Kara Mullen, Ashley Dupuy, and Courtney Young
My role was to talk about getting involved in the American Library Association. I believe active participation in an association is beneficial to both the individual and the association. I have applied the skills and best practices learned from my involvement in ALA to my day-to-day work. Some of the satisfaction I have in my career has resulted from my involvement in the association. At the same time, those day-to-day happenings inform my perspective and work in the association. My leadership skills, which are still in development, are rooted in my involvement with ALA and were the key to me landing my current position.

I also highlighted opportunities and benefits with regards to ALA, particularly New Members Round Table and the Library Support Staff Interests Round Table, as great places to start and get to know what is often perceived as a large and unwieldy organization. Active participation by paraprofessionals and library support staff is important to the association. It reflects another dimension of diversity within libraries. ALA membership and involvement also means access to travel grants and scholarships to attend conferences, the Emerging Leaders program, and the Spectrum Scholarship. I also talked about the ALA-APA Library Staff Certification Program that was highlighted in other sessions by the GLA Paraprofessional Division.

I did not get to Athens in time to hear Michael Porter's keynote "Our Libraries, Our Communities: Technology Evolution, Change and Success". However, conference attendees who did were energized and buzzing about his presentation. Fortunately I did catch up with Michael before and after my session. That evening I had the pleasure of attending the GLA Awards Banquet dinner. The event kicked off with a highly entertaining Battledecks Competition. During dessert, ALA President Roberta Stevens talked about 21st Century Libraries. Various well-deserved award winners were recognized, and the 2011 board was installed.

Thank you GLA and Athens for a great conference!

Trips Galore

I have several trips this fall, all right around the same time. There will be about 4.5 weeks where I'm on the road, with a day in between to unload my suitcase, do some laundry, pack my suitcase, and get back on the road. The trips include:

Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) Conference - Harrisburg
ALA Executive Board Fall Meeting - Chicago
National Collegiate Honors Council Conference - Washington D.C.
Penn State Commonwealth Campus Libraries Fall Meeting - University Park/State College
NEH - Washington D.C.
Penn State Honors Consortium Fall Meeting - University Park/State College

Did I mention these trips are all between October 17 and November 16? It beats being bored. Hopefully all this travel and a fair amount of time in airports and hotel rooms will motivate me to update my blog more. I should also attempt to take more photos.